Pretty pumped to be Co-Hosting "Currently" with A Mama Collective....I want to recap my entire last week, which was at CAMP in this currently post..I hope you enjoy it...

Thinking About... 25 years of Camp Powell.  My parents have been the directors of this camp for 24 of those years, its been something that has been a part of my life for all those 25 years. A huge part.

It is amazing to me how many experiences can be crammed into just one week out of an entire year.

 I fell in love with Jesus there. I experienced the Holy Spirit for the first time there.  I met, developed and cherished lifetime friendships there. I learned that everything revolves around relationships there.  I learned what it was like to lay down ones life in service for another there. I learned what true love really is and means there. I learned how to be silly, get out of my comfort zone and not care what other people think of me there. 

I am blessed to have always seen (when I was little) and been (since high school) on the planning and serving side of things for Camp, since the parents were kinda of running the show.  It made things hard sometimes, but I consider it more of a privilege to have the inside scoop of what it takes to pull this week off. Its not easy. It takes a lot of work, time, focus, energy and self-sacrifice to make this thing happen.  I am honored to be counted as one of the many people now that lays down there life for this week and even more to create a life changing week for many others. 

This Camp is special. God works wonders through the sacraments, fun and relationships that happen at camp. Sometimes life altering and enriching. I am very grateful my parents answered the call in their lives to serve in this specific capacity and I am very blessed to be able to serve in the gifts and talents I have to impact others lives.

Watching... My children, but especially my oldest, Gigi LOVING life at Camp. Geez she is getting so big, she can do all the activities now, so she is 100% participating...I can't believe it! It makes me so happy to have her enjoy and love camp as much as I and so many others do.

Listening to...My husband, brother, and friends being silly for the kids at campfire. Its all for the kids folks. Pure entertainment for everyone.

Thankful For... My little family ALL being able to be at Camp.  Mike has not been able to make it to camp since we have been married.  So I was beside myself when we were all able to make it this year.  Since this year was the 25 anniversary of Camp, my parents made a special request to have their whole family there, and I am so happy we were able to make that happen...my brother, wife and 3 children came too- all were present and accounted for. It was a very BLESSED week.

Hi there! Welcome to Currently, where we share with each other what we are Currently up to and let you share your post through the link-up below. We love this link-up, where we can make new friends and build community. Join us.

Here’s the template for you to copy and paste and do a post as well — link up with us below!

Thinking about:

Reading:

Listening to:

Watching:

Thankful for:

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ONA Camera Bag Giveaway

Happy Happy Friday! Survived Camp and heading home today, tired, dirty and oh so very happy. Many fun
 memories were made, and sweet Jesus- how we love you. Super excited to be teaming up with Oak and Oats and so many amazing ladies to bring you this really amazing giveaway! The opportunity to win a ONA Camera bag and strap (up to a $450 value!!). They are really cute! Check it out for yourself, these pics are incredible!

GIVEAWAY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Oak + Oats || Rivers & Roads || Little Tranquility || Katie Normal Girl || She Who Fears

Grace Believer || Trusty Chucks || Thatch & Thistle || Sweet Lavender Bake Shoppe || Rachel Rewritten

The Wetherills Say I Do || Living Colorfully || Lublyou || Roots & Whim ||  The Quiet Place

Mr. & Mrs. Toews || Kent Heartstrings ||  Love, The Skinnys || He & I || Crazy Simple Love

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DIY // Ottoman Update

This is not a "Biggie" DIY but its the small things that seem to impact us the most.  Our ottoman is a real vocal point in our living room, its just one of those things you notice, look at and use on a daily basis.  We are lucky to have inherited the bones of the this ottoman from my parents, and I quickly re-upholstered it to match my living room.  After much wear though the top lid part of the ottoman really gets dirty and gross looking, so I redid the the top less then 6 months ago, but the fabric that time around was a little less forgiving of a pattern for showing stains and wear.  So here I am at it again, a little wiser though, and I want to share some of my tips to you.

Here is the Ottoman in our living room:

This is what some of the problems looked like from the wear on the fabric....Yuck!

 So what have I learned now two ottoman redos later....drum roll please.......2 things:

1. Use Outdoor Fabric- it is more resistant to wear and tear, moisture and stains
2. Use Scotch Guard- just for extra measure to really protect the fabric

When upholstering with any round prototype please keep in my mind before stapling...pull the fabric taut and slightly fold it over upon itself (as shown above) before stapling in order to insure the fabric not to bunch up. 

Here is the Living Room after....not a crazy difference, but I can tell for sure...and that makes me happy!

**Oh and if your wondering, Camp is going great. Of course there are glitches here and there and not a lot of sleep, but we are alive and kickin. Keep on praying for us, these kids are having a blast!**

Currently {Volume 7}

Thinking About... Camp. Today our whole family goes Camp Powell. A Catholic family camp my parents have been in charge of running for 25 years now.  It is a week long, and targeted for elementary school kids, where high school kids are counselors and adults facilitate all the fun activities from hiking and volleyball to crafts and woodworking. I am able to go every year with whatever little ones I have in tow (It will be Charlie's first time) and help make camp go as smoothly as possible.  This year, though, Mike is coming too! I am so darn excited!  Please be praying for us, it is going to be an exhausting but incredibly rewarding week. Here we go!!

Watching... Oh World Cup Soccer is in full force in our household. Little bit of a disappointment on Sunday, but hey at least we are still at it

Listening to... GOALLLLLLLLLLL! 

Thankful For... Friendship. We are very blessed to be surrounded by truly wonderful friends.  Friends that love us, that love Jesus and love having kids ;) It a great great thing to share our lives with others. We are so grateful.  These are some pictures of a 1 st birthday party we went to this weekend, for one of our good friends little one...Happy Birthday sweet Taylor!

What about you? What are you CURRENTLY up to?

   

Succulent Terrarium // DIY

I am slightly succulent obsessed.  This is one of the many projects I have going on right now that deal with succulents.  The reason why I love them so much is you don't need a green thumb (phew! the pressure is off!) they are very hard to kill and need very little work.  Which is good for me, because I seem to kill anything that grows! This is an easy-peasy project for you to make a low-maintenance garden for your home.

Materials:

1. Glass vessel of any shape or size

2. rocks/gravel

3. Activated Charcoal (found at your local pet store- this helps prevent mold and bacteria from building up)

4. Moss (optional)

5. Potting Soil

6. Succulents

7. Decorative touches- a fun top layer (I used a sparkly broken glass looking stuff intended for a vase filler to add a fun glittery effect on mine) you can also add more rocks, wood, seashells, miniature figurines...whatever you fancy, and all entirely optional 

Putting it all together:

In your glass vessel of choice do the following steps:

1. Add gravel/rocks about 1 inch thick or more depending on your preference

2. Add a thin layer of activated charcoal 

3. Add moss (optional) I wanted it more for looks, but it also helps keep the moisture in

4. Add soil 1-2 inch thick 

5. Add succulents (I used trimmings from my yard, so I didn't even have to purchase new ones...free .99 baby!)

6. Add all the decorative touches you want...or not

Terrarium Maintenance: 

Just an occasion spritzing of water once a week and put in a place in your home that gets good indirect sunlight

Enjoy your little (practically no maintenance) garden!  

Fingers crossed I wont kill this one! ;)

Want even more terrarium inspiration?!!! Come check out what 15+ ladies did when they got to make their own Terrariums at Kreative! Click Here.

Linking up with:

Show-Licious Craft and Recipe Party, The 36th Avenue , Creativity Unleashed, Creative Collection Party, The Charm of Home, Fabulously Creative Party, Romantic Home, Elizabeth and Joan Designs, Mod Mix Monday, Home Stories A-Z

Cupcakes and Crinoline, CedarHill Farmhouse, Inspire Me Monday, The DIYers, Create Link Inspire, A Stroll Thru Life

Bloggers Digest, Green Willows Pond, The Blissful Bee, Designed by BH, Mostly Homemade Mom, Love Pasta and a tool belt, The Style Sisters, Grace at Home, From My Front Porch to Yours, Saving for Six, Addicted 2 DIY, Redoux Interiors

Ruffles and Rainboots, Turn it up Tuesday, Sunday Showcase, DIY Party, Think Pink, Nifty Thrifty Sunday, Inspiration Party Monday, Best of the Nest, Link it or Lump it, Little Red Window

Textin' with Pops

My grandparents are not normal. They are Hip and "With It". They are computer, i-Phone, i-Pad tech savvy sons of guns, and frankly really impress me.  They are on Facebook, Instagram and are regular Kent Heartstrings Blog followers (Hi Grams and Pops!) However it gets a little crazy sometimes and I want to share with you a little glimpse of those moments where I pretty much pee myself with laughter, because my G-parents can be so darn funny....unintentionally of course.  

Today I want to share a text from Gramps. *Please note- my gramps (and grams) use Siri to text to people, so she is interpreting what he is saying and texting it out- my gramps never proof reads before pressing send* Enjoy.

Context: We are trying to figure out lunch plans and we decided to go to a local mexican taco shop (Nicos) and needed their food order.......

Third time is the charm I guess, but they got it!  You did great Gramps and Grams and Love you too! I think my favorite part is my Gramps saying that it is just "the way grandma speaks" bahahahaha......It is just too good.

Currently {Volume 6}

Thinking About... Father's Day. SO grateful for Mike, he is an AMAZING father.  I cannot imagine doing this parenting thing alone.  He balances me out so much, especially when it comes to parenting...he adds the perfect joke in a tense moment, compassion in a time of strain and patience oh boy when I need it.  He always knows how to handle any situation with Gigi better then I...they get each other, which is beautiful...and I am so grateful!  He adores his son and is always wanting to hold him, feed him, change him and play with him.  Mike is a very hands on dad and it just makes my heart come alive all the more.  I love him and so blessed to call him ours.

(No, mike is not giving you the "look"...his eyes are really sensitive to the light, the downside of those blue eyes I guess...so many caption possibilities with this pic)

We had an amazing day. Mike usually knows it is the only day he can make me hike (I hate hiking!) and he knows I have to do it with a smile on my face, but this year he mixed it up and we did a family bike ride around the local lake, which was so much fun! We then got some lunch at a wings place where he could watch world cup soccer and golf simultaneously.  We wrapped up the night with a family bbq filled with games and yummy smores!

Watching... World Cup Soccer. Go USA!  Mike loves Soccer, oh I am sorry Futbol.  He played his whole life, including college, so he of course is super into it. Our lives for the next two weeks revolve around soccer and some game is always on the TV. Its fun. Its festive. We are all excited because Mike is excited =)

(My bro and Mike sporting their father's day gift from my parents- US Men Soccer Jerseys!)

Listening to... Growling... Charlie, has this growl that he does now- deep, husky and forceful.. and I have noticed it usually is when he wants something.  It is very Caveman-esque of him. It kills me.


Thankful For... My Parents. They will celebrate 32 years of marriage this month, wow that is incredible! This weekend we (my family and my brothers family) surprised them and hosted a small anniversary dinner party for them in my backyard, and it was a beautiful evening.  I have always wanted to host an elegant small dinner party in our backyard and so excited after being in my house for 5 years I finally was able to! It was magical. It was perfect.  The whole night not only looked beautiful, but flowed nicely and most importantly my parents felt honored and loved. They are two amazing people and their marriage is such a witness of God's love, we are very blessed to have them in our lives!

What about you? What are you CURRENTLY up to?

   

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Short and Sweet // DIY Succulent Favor

A short and sweet DIY Succulent favor/gift/decoration I have for you today.  I made these ones for Easter gifts for my friends and family.  These would make great wedding favors, teacher gifts, just thinking of you gift....you get the idea, so here is how.

Baby food jar or any glass vessel of your choice:

-decorate with Washi tape

 -add soil

-add succulent (I clipped them from my very own yard)

Boom Baby! Done. Beautiful. See....short and sweet, right?!!

Do you have any ideas for simple DIY gifts or favors?

Linking up with:

Link Party Palooza

Elizabeth and Joan Designs

Show-licious party @3 Little Greenwoods 

Pig and Dac

Grandma's Wisdom {Volume 2}

Today I want to share one of our family mottos, which came from non other then- Grandma...well officially her "mum", so this is technically Great Grandma's wisdom, if we are being legit. We have a few family mantra's we try to live by and one of them is,

 Live in the present moment

Ahhhhh *deep breath* lets just take that in......ok thats good...real good stuff isn't it?!!  Grams has taught me that one must really live and be present in the present moment for that is where God's Grace resides. 

We do not live in the past, we do not live in the future- we are present moment people- our body/mind/heart and soul all reside in the present- so thus- that is where we find God. He is Here. God did not say.., "I Was" or  "I will be someday" He is the great "I AM". God is with us in the present. If we truly want to hear Him, embrace Him, love Him, be near Him, we need to place ourselves intentionally in the Present Moment and LIVE there.  

As a women it is only natural for me to find myself fretting about the future and worrying about mistakes from the past...always worrying, always anxious.  But if I just were to BE STILL and be present, I think I would find myself a lot calmer, more peaceful and a lot more joyful.  That is a goal I strive for in my everyday walk and my everyday journey with the Lord.

My Grandma has lived this mantra out for more years then I and one of the things I admire most about her is when you are in her presences you can almost tangibly feel the peace about her.  She is calming, strong and confident- especially when it comes to things that concern faith, Jesus and ministry.  She is a rock. What I have concluded then...other then my Grams being freaking awesome.... is she has mastered the discipline of living in the present...She is: Calm, Peaceful, Confident, Joyful, full of Life, Loving and I believe one cannot be all those things without the Lord (at least I could never be!)....one cannot be with the Lord unless in the present...with HIM (okay wow, hope you followed my thought process there...sheesh this is getting deep).  Grams, thanks for really kicking butt in life! You are amazing....you are pretty cool too Pops. Love you!  Go forth peeps and LIVE...like right....now.

Feeling crafty today??! Please Check out a post I did for Young and Crafty Sisters... Here. Its a fun one!

Currently {Volume 5}

Thinking About... How Mike and I are going to raise our daughter to understand the beauty of her body the way God made it. The beauty of the inside of her.  The beauty of the one-of-a-kind girl that is Gigi Kent.  This weekend we saw Gigi perform at the fair with her dance class.  It was precious. She loves the stage. She loves the spotlight, and she was in heaven for that 1:30 that was hers to do her thing.  

BUT we also saw the rest of all the girls perform ages ranging from 3-16 and the older girls did a variance of dances from tap to hip-hop. I was shocked at the song choices (if you have to bleep out a bad word every few seconds, maybe it's not the best choice)...and shocked by the gyrating, booty shaking, twerking and shimmying that was going with these young girls.  Mike and I looked at each other and was like, "really?".  We were sad by the fact these sweet innocent girls are being exposed to music and body moves that we believe are inappropriate for their age.  

Also, the hair...the makeup...the fake eyelashes on a 5 year old, really?  I danced when I was REALLY little, but I settled into the athletics world...so this whole scene is new, different and very much out of our comfort zone and know-how.  I am just not aware of what the standard is for a dancer..what they need to perform, what is necessary and what is just NOT.  This all made me realize the challenge it is going to be to raise Gigi with a TRUE sense of awareness of who she is, what is appropriate and what is GOOD.  Mike and I both agreed after tonight we don't want her dancing like that...but what if she loves dancing? Do we force her not to or give in? It is going to be brutal.  Sex is just everywhere.  Lord help all parents and give us wisdom.

Watching... Gigi's face light up on the stage.  It is beautiful to see your child come alive and do well  at something they really enjoy.

Listening to... Hillsong's "Oceans" I know this song has been out for awhile now, but it took sometime for it to really resonate deeply in my heart. Now, I feel like every word from these lyrics are truly speaking to me and are very profound.




Thankful For... An eventful weekend with our little family.  We still had some set backs (Mike might have pink-eye and I had a horrible sore throat and sinus headache all weekend) but at least the kids this weekend were happy and healthy.  Some of our weekend adventures included: stuffing our faces with yummy Food Truck goodness, walks in the neighborhood, Red Box moxie rental, car washes, getting wet in the backyard, getting chores done, going to the county fair, playing carnival games, and watching Gigi perform. It was a good weekend.

What about you? What are you CURRENTLY up to?